Q&A With Catalyst Keynote Speaker Maureen Mullen: What Brands Should Do

Have you heard Maureen Mullen speak? If so, you know she’s a true treasure trove of insight. (If not, her recent insights on what brands should do in 2018 is an excellent primer.)

As chief strategy officer at L2, the member-based business intelligence firm she co-founded, Mullen helps brands identify digital strengths, pinpoint weaknesses and make changes that set the stage for future success. She’s worked with Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, LVMH, Nike, Unilever and countless other brands.

Lucky for us, she’ll be speaking at Catalyst, too. And this is one e-commerce strategy session you won’t want to miss. Here’s what Mullen had to say during a recent Q&A with ChannelAdvisor:

What’s “a day in the life” like for L2’s chief strategy officer?

I have one of the most fun jobs in the world right now! I spend the majority of my days helping some of the world’s leading consumer companies deal with the single biggest business challenge they’ll face in at least this decade: digital disruption. Our benchmarking data helps inform how they’re performing today and “future-proofs” some of their bigger business ideas moving forward.

What are you most looking forward to at Catalyst Americas 2018?

The speakers, attendees and topics. This is such a critical time in e-commerce, and we need to have a place for compelling dialogue with people who are all tackling the same challenges. Catalyst definitely offers that platform. I’m really excited to hear from others and bring together different ideas.

Can you provide a “sneak peek” of what to expect at your session?

I plan to connect all the change that’s happening in the world of e-commerce with what brands and consumer companies should actually do with that information. Where are there opportunities to really drive business value? What should your Amazon strategy look like? How do you stay nimble, and what new platforms or distribution channels should you be considering?

Is there anything that might take attendees by surprise?

If they’re focusing on big data strategies, yes. A lot of the most nimble, agile decisions come down to using small data. Brands and retailers now have access to so much implicit data around how consumers are browsing their websites and what they’re searching for on Google … right down to what color causes them to convert.

But too often, teams overlook these opportunities. It’s easy to get so focused on crunching enormous datasets that you forget about the smaller data signals you have access to — ones that can help us test and learn every single day.

During my keynote, we’ll go over specific examples of brands that have done an excellent job of using this small data to be more agile and nimble.

If you plan to be in the audience during Mullen’s keynote, be ready to take notes. Mullen is a master at not only identifying common challenges, but providing highly specific things you can do to address them. You’ll hear inspiring brand case studies, many of them unfamiliar ones, that will serve as examples for action items your own company can use.

ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst Americas takes place April 17 – 19, 2018 in San Diego. For details and pricing, visit catalyst.channeladvisor.com. Be sure to use promo code Blog9946 when registering to save an additional $100 off your registration. Plus, register three or more people and we’ll take 25% off your entire registration!